Curl clip



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G. N. BOLINGER 2,980,118

CURL CLIP April 18, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 15, 1957 INVENTORGEORGE NOEL BOL INGE R BY X416 ATTORNEY April 1961 G. N. BOLINGER2,980,118

CURL CLIP Filed July 15, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR GEORGE NOEL BOLINGER ATTORNEY U ed. S ates. Paten i CURL CLIP George Noel Bolinger,Shelbyville, Ill., assignor to Sta- Rfittlauginnie Lou, Inc.,Shelbyville, 11]., a corporation Filed July 15, 1957, Ser. N0. 671,840

4 Claims. (Cl. 132-48) This invention relates to an improved hair clipespecially adaptable for use in the formation of pin-curls, for example.

In the creation of the coifiure, a plurality of pin-curls are generallyformed and retained until set. Pin-curl clips generally used for thispurpose should be light, readily manipulated, well constructed, capableof applying a uniform pressure until manually released, safe in use, andeconomically manufactured.

A primary object of this invention is to provide an integral pin-curlclip including means providing all of the desirable features heretoforeset forth. p

- A further object of this inventionis to provide-a curl clip of aone-piece construction including a pair of spring biased clamp fingersgenerally disposed in parallel relationship and including means forretaining relative stability of the fingers and affording readymanipulation of the clip during application toa curl orremoval from thesame.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course 'of the following description. g

In the drawing there is shown, substantially enlarged, one preferredembodiment of the'invention. In this showing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the curl ing the clipin its normalcondition; I a I Figure 2 is a longitudinal section taken on line 2-2ofFigure 1; g i

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the curl clip;

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the curl clip;

Figure 5 is an end elevation looking. from;right to left in Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a plan view or a blanki'utilized in the formation of thecurl clip; v

- Figure .7 is a perspective view ofathe curl clip, similar to Figure 1,but showing thecurl clip in an open condition prior to application on apin-curl or the like;

Figure 8 15a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the planeindicated by line 8-8 of Figure 1; and,

clip showinFigure 3.

Referring to the drawings, indicated generally at 10 is a curl clipcomprising a unitary or one-piece body 12 including overlying upper andlower clamp arms 14 and The lower clamp arm 16 lies substantiallyin asingle plane and is bifurcated to form parallel fingers 18 and I 20rounded at their forward ends as indicated'at 22 and 18 and 20 definetherebetween a longitudinally extending slot 26, the function of whichwill subsequently be described in detail. 7

The upper arm 14, in its normal position, will be die a, 2,980,118Patented Apr. 18, 1961 posed substantially parallel to the arm 16, seeFigure 2, and includes at its forward terminal end a downwardlyangulated portion 28 terminating short of the end of the arm 16 andincorporating an arcuate forward edge 30 which will be disposedtransversely of an intermediate portion of the slot 26 and extendpartially therein, see Figure 2. These cooperating portions accordinglyprevent lateral relative displacement or'movement between the arms 14and 16. The arm 14 incorporates an'elongated slot 32 overlying the slot26 of the arm 16.

Extending rearwardly and angularly in diverging relationship from thegeneral plane of the arm 16, integral with the arm 14, is a leverportion 34, and the entire width of the lever portion 34 and theunderlying portion of arm 16 will serve as finger engageable portionsfor disposing the curl clip in the condition shown in Figure 7.

The lever portion 34 includes at its rear end a transverse arcuaterolled edge portion 36, and the arm 16 includes at its rear end asimilar transverse arcuate rolled edge 38, said edge portions serving toeliminate sharp edges and prevent accidental injury to a user of thecurl clip. Extending longitudinally'and integrally from intermediateoverlying portions of the rolled edges 36 and 38 are opposed legs of areverse-bend loop or leaf spring 40 which biases the arms toward thecondition shown in Figures land 2. The loop or leaf spring 40 extendsforwardly and terminates in alignment with the slots 26 and 32, theupper portion of the spring 40 extending through the slot 32, and thelower portion'of the spring extending partially into the slot 26, seeFigure 2. The width of the spring 40 isless than the width of the slotsas clearly seen in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 9, to provide sufficient roomwherein strands of hair will-not become impacted between the adjacentedges of the spring and the slots. However, inasmuch as the spring isdisposed within said slots, this arrangement will prevent excessivelateral displacement of the arms 14 and 16 relative to each other.

Briefly considering Figure 6, indicated generally at 42 is a blank,constructed of any suitable spring material, said blank including anelongated body portion 44mmprising an arm 14 in alignment with an arm16, said arms being connected by means of longitudinal reduced .widthstrip portion 40. The arms 14' and 16' have formed therein slots 32 and26, respectively. By utilizing the blanks disclosed in Figure 6, insuitable forming apt I Operation 7 a .The clip is used in the usualmanner by winding a curl,

. holding the curl in woundcondition, pressing the rolled Figure 9 is anend elevation lookingffrom leftitojright edges 36 and 38 together toopen the clip, then slipping .the clip over the curlwith theconvolutions of the latter lying between the upper and lower arms 14 and16.. It will be. notedthat the upper and lower arms are normally'in'spaced parallel relation, and the spacing preferably-is such as toreceive a curl ofthe usual size and to exert sufficient pressure thereonto maintain the curl in coiled condition. 7

The angular end 28 of the upper arm acts as a keepertoprevent the clipfrom slipping from position, as will be apparent. It will be noted thatthe curved end of the angular portion 28 will extend partly within theslot 26, thus tending to laterally stabilize the arms of the 7 device.

Attention also is invited to the fact that the looped spring hasportions lying within at least one of the slots 26 or '32, and thespring accordingly acts as a brace to limit lateral deflection of theupper and lower arms relative to each other. At the same time, thespring 40 is narrower than the slots in the arms to a sufiicient extentto prevent-the-wedging of stray strands of hair between the edges of thesprings and the slots.

An importapt feature of the present construction lies in the fact thatthe spring 40 is wholly within the longitudinal limits of the leverportion 34 and, accordingly, the length of the lever portion 34 takescare of both the leverage necessary for opening the clip and the spaceto be occupiedby the spring. Moreover, this arrangement permits the useof a relatively long spring from end to end thereof, thus providing ahigh degree of resiliency. It will be noted that if acurl of hair ofsubstantially greater thickness than the space between the arms 14 and16 is placed therebetween, a relatively short stiff spring would forcethe arms of the device to accommodate the curl of greater thickness bywidely diverging the arms of the device toward the free ends thereof.The sides of the convolutions toward the free ends of the arms,therefore, would not be properly gripped and the coil of hair would notbe held properly in position. With the present device, thelength of thespring and the relatively softer resiliency provided thereby will permitthe left-hand end of the upper arm, as viewed in Figures 1-4, inclusive,to be deflected upwardly to accommodate the greater thickness of thecurl, thus preventing a wide divergency of the arms toward the free endsthereof and maintaining a proper clamping engagement of the arms withthe curl. It is to be understood that the form of the invention shownand described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and thatvarious changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of the parts may bemade as do notdepart from the spirit of the invention or thescope of theappended claims.

I claim: I

1. A curl clip of resilient sheet material comprising upper and lowerarms, one end of said upper arm being offset adjacent its extremity awayfrom the other arms to provide a lever portion, and a leaf springconnected at one end to said extremity of said lever portion and at itsother end ,to the extremity of the corresponding portion of said lowerarm and constituting the sole positive connection between said arms,said leaf spring extending inwardly from said extremities between saidarms and being bent intermediate its ends, said arms and said leafspring being integral, said lower arm being provided with a longitudinalslot opening through the end of said lower arm opposite said spring, theend of said upper arm opposite said spring converging downwardly towardthe corresponding end of said lower arm and having a curved end engagingsaid lower arm within said slot to act as a closure for the spacebetween said arms and to tend to prevent relative lateral movement ofthe ends of said arms opposite said spring.

2, A curl clip of resilient sheet'material comprising upper and lowerarms, one end of said upper armdiverging toward its extremity away fromthe other arm to provide a lever portion, and a leaf spring connected atone end to said extremity of said lever portion and at its other end tothe extremity of the corresponding portion of said lower arm, said leafspring extending inwardly from said '4 extremities'betweensaid arms andbeing -bent'intermediate its ends, said arms and said leaf spring beingintegral, said lower arm having a longitudinal slot opening through theend of said lower arm opposite said spring and extending through saidlower arm to a point beyond the bend in said spring, said spring havinga: portion lying within said slot to tend to prevent relative lateraloffsetting of said arms.

, 3. A curl clip of resilient sheet material comprising upper andlower-arms, one endrof said upper arm diverging toward its extremityaway from the other arm to provide a lever portion, and, a leaf springconnected at one end to said extremity of said lever portion and at itsother end to the extremity of the corresponding portion of said lowerarm, said leaf spring extending inwardly from said extremities betweensaid arms and being bent intermediate its ends, saidarms and said leafspring being integral, said lower arm having a longitudinal slot openingthrough the end'of said lower arm opposite said spring and extendingthrough said lower arm to a point beyond the bend in said spring, saidspring having a portion lying within said slot to tend to preventrelative lateral offsetting of said arms, the end of said upper armopposite said spring converging toward the extremity of thecorresponding cnd of said lower arm and terminating in a rounded endengageable with said lower arm in said slot to tend to prevent lateralmovement of the adjacent ends of said arms relative to each other and toact as a closure for the space between said arms.

4. A curl clip comprising an integral sheet metal body of springmaterial including upper and lower arms and a spring connected, betweensaid arms atone end thereof, the extremities of the clip at said ends ofsaid arms and throughout the widths thereof being curved back uponthemselves and into the space therebetween to form curved fingerengaging portions, said end of said upper arm being offset away fromsaid lower arm adjacent said extremity of said upper arm to form a leverportion, said spring having a loop intermediate its ends and having endportions projecting toward and forming continuations of said curvedextremities of the respective upper and lower arms, said spring beingof, a width substantially less than the width of said arms and lyingcentrally of the width of said arms, said upper arm having alongitudinal slot adjacent and slightly wider than said spring andreceiving a portion thereof therewithin to resist lateral displacementof the other ends of said arms relative to each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent 551,622 Germany June 3, 1932

